After relentless efforts not only from the grime and rap community but from the entire country, Stormzy’s debut album Gang Signs & Prayer has nabbed the top spot in the Official UK Album Chart this week.
Since dropping the record last Friday, Stormz embarked on a week of crazy promotion including numerous surprise gigs, a WhatsApp campaign, meet and greets with fans across the country and all the heavy hitters of the genre relentlessly plugging the drop on social media. Let’s not forget his shut down performance at the Brits last week too. Thankfully the campaign trail worked and the album won the iconic number one position, but here’s the thing: it wouldn’t have mattered even if it didn’t.
It’s undeniable that GSAP will go down as one of the defining albums of the genre. By mixing the road with his unwavering faith, Stormzy bared his soul and the country listened. In its first seven days, the record sold nearly 70,000 copies and eight of its tracks made it into the top 40 in the Official UK Singles Chart. “Big For Your Boots” is in the top ten. This is the kind of territory that our scene has never seen before and the fact that it’s come from an independent artist is historic.
He wanted his people to know that there is more to life than the road, even if they don’t know it. With a mix of powerfully emotional tracks like “100 Bags”, “Lay Me Bare” and “Blinded By Your Grace Part 2”, blended with more traditional grimy bangers like “Bad Boys” and “Return Of The Rucksack”, Stormzy has cemented his place as the voice of the new generation of grime.
With a track list and feature panel this strong, the album was already set to be a classic, but the sheer furor that Big Mike sent the country into over the last week has taken it to another level. Who could have such legit street cred that Crazy Titch is backing him from jail and is actually known as “Wicked Skengman”, yet can still appear on Sunday Brunch, GQ, LBC Radio and BBC News all in the space of seven days? The same man who just two weeks before was almost arrested in his own home after his neighbours disbelief that a black man could be living in a luxury flat in Chelsea, that’s who.
One week ago Stormzy was a semi-household name who was mainly known outside of the grime community as “that guy who did that “Shut Up” song and knows Pogba”. Now, he’s a certy pop star, with the likes of Kehlani, Adele and Ed Sheeran backing him.
Yes, it is incredible that the album hit that top spot. But really it was the incredible campaign trail that really made the last week special, proving that in the case of Gang Signs & Prayer, the journey was the destination.